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People can either be too submissive or too aggressive Those who are too submissive do not even let out a whimper when they are hurt. They simply accept things as they are. Yet when they cannot bear things anymore, they talk to others who are not even involved in the situation.
Those who are very aggressive will not miss the opportunity to correct other people’s mistakes. They will readily tell you that you have hurt them even in front of everybody. But the Lord tells us we should be neither too submissive nor too aggressive.
Submissive people give up their opportunity to correct mistakes. In the name of patience, they actually fail in their responsibility to lead others to become better persons. Aggressive people correct without charity. They criticize others invoking fraternal correction but at the same not consider the others’ feelings as long as they’ve said what they’ve wanted to say.
The Lord wants us to stand somewhere between aggressiveness and submissiveness. He asks us to exercise charity when we correct others in a three-step process. First, correct the one who has hurt you in private. The key word is “in private.” If it does not work, the Lord tells us to bring in one or two other people to offer another point of view, because for all you know, no one really committed a mistake. If this still does not work, it is time to bring the problem to a bigger group of people.
Are we too submissive that we keep quiet in the face of a terrifying deed? Are we too aggressive that we correct without charity and consideration?
Why should we correct others in private and later let in others on the problem? Because it is how the Lord deals with us. God corrects us in the privacy and secrecy of our consciences. If we go against our conscience, other people speak up and tell us we are wrong.
What kind of Christians are we? Are we submissive Christians who remain quiet, fearing to offend others, but also in the process miss the opportunity to help them? Or are we aggressive Christians who force our help on others without considering their feelings?
Let us promise the Lord to be Christ-like to those we want to correct or to those who have hurt us.
TOO AGGRESSIVE…TOO SUBMISSIVE
Mt 18:17
Jesus In My Heart
